Fume eliminator



Dec. 26, 1967 J DE PAOLO 3,359,961

FUME ELIMINATOR Filed June 1, 1965 INVENTOR. JOHN DE PAOLO United States Patent 3,359,961 FUME ELIMINATOR John De Paolo, 1101 Green St., San Francisco, Calif. 94109 Filed June 1, 1965, Ser. No. 460,179 1 Claim. (Cl. 123-119) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of invention This is an improvement over the device shown and described in my United States Letters Patent No. 3,202,- 145 of Aug. 24, 1965, and includes means for eliminating danger from backfire. In fume eliminators, deposits from the fumes on parts of the eliminators are the principal cause of early failure of the eliminators to perform their intended function, and the more complicated the structure of the fume eliminator the more likely the failure, hence the more simple the structure,'and the fewer parts in the flow of the fumes and the fewer contacts between moving and stationary parts, the greater the likelihood of efficient uniform operation.

Summary 7 In the present invention a valve body is provided having a vertically extending recess closed at its upper end, and provided with means at its lower end for connecting it with the crankcase for passage of crankcase fumes into the recess.

An outlet at a side of the valve body connects with the vertical recess at a point intermediate the ends of the latter, and a valve member is within the recess below said outlet while a coil spring is in the recess above the side outlet, the latter having means for connecting it with the intake manifold or suction side of the carburetor.

. A flat upwardly facing annular valve seat within the recess adjacent the unit and around the latter is adapted to movably seat the flat lower end of .a valve element, but the latter is drawn upwardly oflf the seat under the influence of suction in the manifold to vary volume of gas adapted to flow therepast to the outlet and manifold according to the degree of suction, and the spring will react to resist upward movement of the valve member as the suction increases and to urge the valve member downwardly under decreases in the degree of vacuum.

Only the .valve member is in the flow of the fumes and no sealing or seating. contacts are made other than when the engine is not operating or there is a backfire, and then the seating engagementvaries as there is no centering means for the valve member.

Other objects andadvantages will appear in the following description and in the drawings; in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross sectional view taken through the fume eliminator, which device is schematically connected with a crankcase and with the carburetor or intake manifold.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the fume eliminator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged cross sectional view showing the vacuum actuatable element in the fume eliminator in substantially its maximum elevated position.

In detail, the fume eliminator comprises a vertically elongated body generally designated 1, the horizontal cross sectional contour of which is hexagonal, as seen in FIG. 2, to facilitate its engagement by a conventional wrench.

Body 1 is formed with a downwardly opening recess 2 therein, which recess commences at its upper end with a restricted diameter portion 3 coaxial with body 1, and which recess is successively enlarged below portion 3 by counterbores 4, 5. The upper closed end of recess 2 is spaced within body 1 so that the material of the body 1 closes said upper end and the enlarged portion 4 of the recess 2 is intermediate said upper portion 3 and the lowermost enlarged portion 5. The walls of the latter, in turn, are formed at the lowermost portion thereof with radially inwardly facing threads 6.

A vertically elongated, tubular, open-ended fitting 7 is secured within the lowermost, threaded end portion of the enlarged lower end portion 5 of recess 2, which lower end portion is formed with threads engaging the threads 6.

The upper surface 8 of fitting 7 is horizontal, and planar, and is positioned at substantially the same level as the juncture between the upper end of threads 6 and the unthreaded inside surface of said enlarged lower end portion 5.

A radially outwardly projecting flange 9 is integral with fitting 7 at a point intermediate its upper and lower ends, said flange being hexagonal in horizontal cross sectional contour for engagement with a wrench, and the upper surface of said flange and the lower end surface of said body 1 are preferably a ground fit to provide an elfective seal without use of a gasket.

Said tubular fitting 7 continues downwardly below flange 9 in a downward extension 10 adapted to be received within the end of a suitable conduit 11 or the like, the latter being connected with any suitable outlet 13 on a conventional crankcase 14 at a level above any oil in the latter.

Fitting 7 is formed with an open ended bore 15 that is coaxial with the axis of body 1, and the open upper end of said bore is substantially spaced from the side walls of enlargement 5.

An interiorly threaded side opening 16 opens into the intermediate enlargement 4 of recess 2 for threadedly connecting with the exteriorly threaded end of a horizontally elongated tubular fitting 17, which fitting is formed with an annular radially outwardly directed flange 18 adapted to be tightened against the flat outer surface of body 1. It should be noted that opening 16 opens outwardly of one of the flat outer surfaces of said body 1. An outward extension 19 of fitting 17 is adapted to be connected with one end of a conduit 20. [he latter is adapted to be connected at its opposite end with an outlet on a collar or fitting 23, that, in turn, forms part of the passageway 24 or conduit connected with the intake manifold of the engine. The usual throttle valve 25 is normally positioned in a carburetor 26 ahead of the passageway 24.

When the engine is idling there is a relatively high partial vacuum in passageway 24, and when the throttle valve is opened to a greater degree upon acceleration of the engine, the partial vacuum in passageway 24 is decreased.

Within the recess 2 is a vertically elongated control member, generally designated 27. Member 27 has an upper end portion 28, an intermediate portion 29, and a valve member 30 at the lower end of portion 29.

Valve member 30 may terminate at its lower end in a relatively short cylindrical portion 33 that then extends slightly convergently upwardly to form a tapered upper portion 34 that, in turn, terminates approximately even with the juncture between enlargements 4, 5 of the recess 2 when the horizontal fiat lower surface of valve member 30 is supported on the flat, horizontal upper surface 8 of the fitting 7.

The body of valve member 30 may be bored out to form a downwardly opening recess 35 therein, but the portion of the valve member 30 around the lower end of said recess 35 is flat and is supported on surface 8 of fitting 7 around the upper end of bore 15 in said fitting. This recess 35 is desirable to reduce the weight of the control member 27 but is not absolutely essential to the operation of the device.

The outside diameter of valve member 30 is substantially less than the inside diameter of the enlarged portion 5 of recess 2, and said outside diameter, even at the maximum lower end of the valve, is less than the inside diameter of the intermediate enlarged portion 4.

The intermediate part 29 of the control member 27 is substantially less in outside diameter than the inside diameter of the intermediate enlarged portion 4 and the maximum diameter of the upper end part 28 of the control member is, in turn, of substantially less diameter than the upper end portion 3 of recess 2.

A relatively light coil spring 36 surrounds the upper part 28 of the control member, which may be called the stem of the latter, and this spring is supported at its lower end on the upwardly facing shoulder 37 that is at the juncture between the stem 28 and the intermediate part of the control member 27 that is therebelow. Spring 36 is preferably slightly spaced at its upper end from the upper closed end of the portion 2, hence the valve member 30 is not held under spring tension against surface 8, and while the valve member 30 will always be supported on said surface 8 when there is no vacuum to lift it therefrom the said valve member may shift substantially constantly relative to a fixed seat on said surface 8, and there are no slidable fittings or seats on which deposits from the crankcase fumes may cause the control member to stick against actuation by vacuum from the intake manifold, or against the influence of gravity, as the degree of vacuum varies.

The space between the sides of valve member 30 and the lower end of the intermediate enlarged portion 3 will progressively become less as the vacuum from the intake manifold increases and the spring 36 will check any violent movements of the valve member upon sudden changes in the degree of vacuum.

It is pertinent to note that the valve member 30 as constructed also functions as a flame arrester should backfire occur in the manifold, since the member 30 will close completely when such backfire occurs.

The operation of the device is believed to be clear. As the engine idles the valve member 30 is lifted above the upper end of fitting 7 a substantially greater distance than when the engine labors under a load or when the engine is accelerated.

The path of travel of the fumes through the device from conduit 11 to conduit 20 and does not pass over any of the structure above the opening 16, and, as has previously been emphasized, the control member is spaced from the sides of recess 2 and from the upper closed end and is supported, by gravity, on the surface 8 so that the valve member is adapted to slightly change its position on the surface 8 with each actuation instead of being guided by a fixed stem guide or other means to a fixed position. The elimination of the contact with the body 1 except at the lower end of the valve member, and the provision of structure which precludes positive guiding of the valve element to a fixed position with each actuation thereof insures against the valve element sticking in one position or another, and it also insures against changes in the resistance to this movement due to deposits from the fumes on the control member.

It is to be understood that modifications and changes may be made within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A crankcase fume eliminator comprising:

(a) A vertically elongated body formed with a recess extending longitudinally thereof opening outwardly at the lower end of said body providing an inlet, and said recess being closed at its upper end in the upper portion of said body;

(b) an outlet in said body for said fumes communieating with said recess at a point intermediate the upper and lower ends of said recess;

(0) means for connecting said inlet with a crankcase, and means for connecting said outlet with the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine;

(d) an upwardly facing annular shoulder within the lower portion of said recess extending radially inwardly from the side walls thereof around said inlet and spaced below said outlet, providing an upwardly axially facing surface;

(e) a vertically elongated control member within said recess coaxially thereof, said member including a valve element on the lower end thereof supported on said upwardly facing surface by gravity and closing said inlet and having an upward extension extending into the portion of said recess above said outlet, said control member including said valve element and said extension, being spaced from the side walls of said recess and from the upper closed end of said recess for upward movement thereof to an elevated position substantially out of contact with said side walls and with said upwardly directed surface under the influence of a partial vacuum developed in said recess above said element from said intake manifold when said inlet is connected with said manifold and such engine is operating;

(f) said surface being horizontal and substantially planar and the surface on said element in engagement with said axially upwardly facing surface of said shoulder being horizontal and substantially planar whereby said surface on said element will be free for engaging and for being supported stationary on said upwardly facing surface on said shoulder in different positions laterally relative to the vertical axis of said body upon falling by gravity from said elevated position upon cessation of said partial vacuum;

(g) a spring within said upper portion of said recess above said outlet out of the flow of fumes from said inlet to said outlet when said eliminator is in operation, said spring adapted to react between said extension and the upper end of said recess upon a predetermined degree of upward movement of said ele ment within said recess when said eliminator is in operation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,359,485 10/1944 Lowther 1231 19 2,906,252 9/1959 Beardsley 123119 3,105,477 10/1963 Lowther 1231 19 3,138,148 6/1964 Cauvin 123-119 3,145,697 8/1964 Barr 123-119 3,241,537 3/1966 Jones 123-119 3,263,699 8/1966 Givler 123-1 19 AL LAWRENCE SMITH, Primary Examiner. 

